Hello, pasta lovers! I am so happy to share this delicious pasta recipe with you. These homemade beetroot-cottage cheese ravioli are easy to make yet elegant to serve to your loved ones. Soft fresh egg pasta, with spicy beetroot-cottage cheese filling, finished in a butter-clementine thyme sauce will make you feel like the best Italian chef.
If there’s something, next to potatoes, that I could always eat, it’s pasta. Wink. Yeah, I am a huge pasta lover. That being said, I’ve never made pasta from scratch. Aaawwkkwward! I’ve always dreamed of making my own pasta. However, because almost every recipe is calling for a pasta machine, I was always a little intimidated to take that step. And there it was, again, the “maybe some other time” excuse.
But finally, I’ve made it. I’ve made fresh pasta from scratch. And you know what? Making pasta is fun and easy. More, I made pasta without any special kitchen equipment. No pasta machine, no food processor, I only used my hands and a rolling pin. Ok, and I have a ravioli square stamp cutter. But, you can still use a knife to cut and a fork to seal the dough and create those lovely wavy edges.
From all of the pasta variations, I chose to make ravioli. Ravioli are a traditional, squared-shaped, filled pasta, fun to make, simple to cook, easy to divide into portions and a joy to eat. Even though I made them square, you can make them round or any other shape. Go on and make it. Making pasta is fun. Wink.
Fresh egg pasta
Moreover, everything starts by mixing the fresh egg pasta (or pasta all’uovo). In order to do that, you need a few simple ingredients such as flour, eggs, semolina and salt. Additionally, I also used a splash of olive oil, which gives the dough more flexibility.
The other secret to a perfect pasta dough is its thickness. When rolling it out, try to make it thin. In fact, you should be able to see the shape of your hand through it. Wink. As a result, the dough will bend easily over the filling and cook evenly without cracking.
The filling is what makes ravioli so special
When it comes to the filling, try to be creative. Since Valentine’s is here I made the ravioli’s filling pink. This spicy beetroot-cottage cheese filling really takes these pasta pockets to the next level. The filling is what makes ravioli so special. And why are they spicy? Because I added some chili (which speeds up the heart rate and turns up the heat) as well. Wink. However, you can fill the ravioli with just about anything. Use your imagination.
Furthermore, I was thinking about what kind of sauce to make. And, in between red sauce, white sauce or any coloured sauce, I decided on a butter sauce with a clementine-thyme note. You are going to love this sauce. Also, it comes together really quick and it’s perfect for any pasta, not just ravioli.
In addition, in case you make more ravioli than you can eat (sound almost impossible), you can simply freeze them tightly wrapped and when ready to use them again, just cook in boiling water for 3-4 minutes.
That being said, if you still insist making something sweet for your sweet Valentine, then check out these lovely recipes: sweet puff pastry hearts, creamy Bled cream cake in a glass, thinly baked French crepes, stunning Pavlova cake, healthy avocado-choco mousse, decadent avocado chocolate truffles, festive Jack Frost cocktail or lovely pumpkin creme brulee.
Ingredients for about 40-50 homemade beetroot-cottage cheese ravioli:
- 300 g flour 00 (plus some for dusting)
- 3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
- salt
- 52 g polenta or semolina
- 1-2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 2-3 beetroots (cooked)
- chili
- 200-300 g cottage cheese
- 3-4 sprigs thyme
- 50-60 g butter
- 1-2 clementines (zest and juice)
Start by making the fresh egg pasta dough. You can make it in a bowl or directly on a working surface. Sieve the flour, add two pinches of salt and polenta and create a well. Then, in a smaller bowl beat the eggs and stir in the olive oil.
Moreover, pour half of the egg mixture into the well and slowly (with your hand) start mixing the flour into the egg mixture. Then, add the rest and continue to mix until the dough starts to form.
After you form the pasta dough, keep kneading (I usually do it on a slightly oiled surface rather than dusted) for another 10-12 minutes or until smooth and elastic. However, if the dough feels too sticky, add a bit of flour. Then, form the dough into a ball, wrap it into plastic foil and put in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the spicy beetroot-cottage cheese filling. Place the beetroots in a small baking dish and put in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 200º C. Once they are slightly roasted, puree them together with chili and let them cool down. Then, stir in the thyme and cottage cheese. You’ll get a lovely pink filling. Set it aside while making the ravioli.
How to make ravioli
Take the pasta dough out of the fridge, cut off just as much as you need (about 1/5) and wrap the rest back into the foil, in order to keep it from drying out. Roll out the pasta dough (on a lightly dusted surface) into two thin sheets, about 20 cm wide and 50 cm long, not thicker than 2mm. As I said before, you should be able to see your hands’ shape through it.
To assemble the ravioli, brush a tiny amount of water over a sheet of pasta. Then, add the filling and to do that, you can either use a piping bag or simply a teaspoon. Try to make small dots on your pasta dough. My ravioli were about 5×5 cm large. Therefore I placed the filing into two rows parallel to each other. Also, keep in mind leaving about 2,5-3 cm between them.
Folding and sealing the pasta
At this point, you have two options, either you lay the second pasta dough sheet over it (the case with two rows of filling) or you fold the sheet over the filling (the case of one single row).
Moreover, gently press with your fingers around each portion of filling, to press out the air. Then, in order to seal the edges, press firmly around the filling again and then cut the single ravioli out, either using a knife or a pasta cutter. Of course, you can use a ravioli stamp cutter too. In case you are using a knife, you have to seal the edges by pressing with a fork around the edges, hard enough to leave that lovely look on the dough.
At this point, you can either cook them straight away or freeze them for later use. To cook them, boil some water. Once it starts boiling, add the ravioli. You might give it an occasional stir and cook for about 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a larger frying pan, melt the butter, add the mandarin zest, thyme and squeeze in the juice of two clementines over medium-low heat. When the ravioli float to the top, transfer them to the sauce and toss.
Love and celebrate! Treat your guests with these homemade beetroot-cottage cheese ravioli. You can serve them for Valentine’s day of course, but you can surprise your loved ones and friends on any other day as well. Also, they make a wonderful either appetizer or an elegant main dish.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
